Aid groups have condemned a decision by several countries to suspend funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), pointing to a “worsening humanitarian catastrophe” and “looming famine” in Gaza, AFP reports.

The two dozen top charities, including Oxfam and Save the Children, stressed the United Nations Relief and Works Agency was the main provider of aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza and the wider Middle East.

“The suspension of funding by donor states will impact life-saving assistance for over two million civilians, over half of whom are children,” the NGOs said in a joint statement.

“The population faces starvation, looming famine and an outbreak of disease under Israel’s continued indiscriminate bombardment and deliberate deprivation of aid in Gaza.”

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